People Detail

John Wells

Winter 2015-16

“I think the FLC environment is very important,” says John Wells (Business Administration, 1978). “I don’t think you can find a finer campus location aesthetically. I think it has an impact on students.”

He should know. After graduating from FLC, Wells chose to stick around Durango, and went on to found the real estate agency The Wells Group. Today he is president, owner, and broker, and employs around 60 people.

He also serves on the FLC Board of Trustees, helping to keep that Fort Lewis College impact on students going.

“From a personal and a company perspective,” Wells says, “this community is very good to us, and I want to give back to the college in support of that.”

Most of us think accounting is all about crunching numbers. For alumnus Brad Tafoya, though, being an accountant is more about heart than about spreadsheets. He and his firm, Tafoya Barrett & Associates, are all about helping their clients and their community reach their full potential.

Student journalists with The Independent, the College’s student news organization, dive into a real newsroom atmosphere and experience deadlines, story assignments, and breaking news like any major news organization does. The purpose behind The Indy goes beyond reporting the news, though, to offer students professional journalism and publishing experience as undergraduates in a constantly evolving field.

Alumna Cheryl Frost was recently elected to the Southern Ute Tribal Council with an ingenious – and unique – campaign platform: She ran on no platform at all. “I know the kind of person that I am,” Frost (English, ’95) says. “I don’t make promises to people that I can’t keep. I don’t make deals with people. I’m not going to put myself in an ethical quandary before I’m even elected. That’s why I chose no platform.”